Louis van Gaal factor and lack of European football result in United season ticket sales spike

Theatre of dreams: United fans have snapped up season tickets for 2014/15 (Picture: Getty Images)

Manchester United have announced that they have already sold out all of their 55,000 season tickets ahead of the 2014-15 season.

This is the fastest United have sold their season tickets since the summer ahead of the 2006-2007 season. Back then, many supporters gave up their tickets in light of the Glazer takeover and the stadium increased in capacity from 68,000 to close to 76,000, which freed up lots of extra season tickets.

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were beginning to look like top quality players and United went on to win the Premier League title at the end of that season, for the first time in four years.

Over the past few years though, the demand for season tickets hasn’t quite been the same. The Automatic Cup Scheme has been draining on the finances of supporters, with fans obliged to pay for their Champions League and FA Cup ticket games, on top of what they pay for the season ticket. Fans have the option to drop out of purchasing League Cup games but then it means they are unable to apply for any away games and won’t stand a chance of getting tickets for cup finals.

The ACS meant that fans were forking out hundreds of pounds, depending on United’s success in the cups, and if they didn’t buy the tickets, were prevented from going to games in the league. For example, fans who hadn’t paid for Olympiakos tickets last season were contacted to say their season card would not allow them to gain entry to the upcoming Manchester City game.

United road: Red Devils fans are excited ahead of the new season (Picture: Getty Images)

Two seasons ago, United still had season tickets available when we were ten games into the season. United were top of the league yet still they couldn’t shift all of them.

Things are different now though, for a number of reasons.

United’s failure to qualify for any European competition under David Moyes means that the cost of buying a season ticket is considerably less in 2014-15.

Whilst there’s no denying that the lighter financial commitment will make a season ticket at Old Trafford more appealing, it would be daft to ignore the fact that Louis van Gaal has made United fans feel excited again. Following the doom and gloom of last season under Moyes, Van Gaal is a breath of fresh air, coming straight from a successful World Cup. The press in Holland doubted whether they’d even get out of the group, yet they managed to finish third, beating host nation Brazil to do so.

In Van Gaal, United fans have a managerial heavyweight, one of the biggest names in football, and there’s no doubt that his appointment has brought more fans back to Old Trafford.